The insurgent network administrator assumed absolute control over the city's network for a 12-day period in 2008. Although he locked out the city from its own network during this period, Childs was kind enough to let the network run unhindered. But that gesture of generosity wasn't enough to prevent his arrest in June, 2008 guilty. He was finally convicted on one felony count of network tempering on April 27, 2010.

Childs is effectively half way through his sentence, having already served more than two years in custody.

Comments

He had built the fiber network from the ground up and didn't trust his co-workers, stating they were pretty much inept at running the system.

He didn't want to give up control because he was afraid the whole network would crash once they started tinkering with it. He gave the mayor, I think, the password from his jail cell.

I don't know whether to support him - he built it and was doing what needed to be done to make sure it stayed up, or not support him - he should have known when to walk away and say "I'm no longer responsible for it. If it crashes, you can hire me as a private contractor to fix it for 3x what you are paying me now."

Of course, they could just as easily have blamed any future failure on him, stating he set some sort of timebomb they didn't know about.

What a mess. It is even worse because you are being accused by non-tech heads who've no idea what they are accussing you of. I think in the end, I feel sorry for the guy. 4 years seems kinda harsh considering he didn't damage anything.